About the Program
The Honors Foundations program will support selected Honors Faculty Fellows from around the campus per academic year.
Any full-time permanent Morgantown faculty member, with the support of the department chair, is eligible to apply. The deadline for 2025-26 Honors Faculty Fellow applications and course proposals is Friday, November 8, 2024.
Selected fellows will teach one or two sections of the same course, depending on the type of course proposed. These courses can be special topics “big-ideas” classes or enhanced classes with deeply engaged teaching and learning practices that bring faculty expertise to Honors students at the introductory level. They provide innovative course opportunities for Honors students and space for faculty to develop new curricular and teaching ideas to bring back to their home departments.
Learn more about the program and requirements for fellows by visiting the link below.
Learn MoreApplication Process
Applications must be submitted by the deadline to be considered for the coming year.
Applications will be open in Fall 2024 for 2025-2026 Honors Faculty Fellows. Applications, with chair support, will be due to the Honors College by November 8, 2024. Applications should be emailed to Damien Clement as a single PDF file.
REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS:
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A cover letter that outlines:
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Course description
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Faculty member’s qualification to teach the course
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Assessment of the niche for such a course, specifically for how the course is NOT currently covered in course offerings of the fellow’s home department or any other relevant department on campus.
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A detailed description of the proposed course that includes:
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Outline of the material covered including key texts
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Identification of any specific community service or leadership components to the course
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Tentative listing of the section learning outcomes
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Tentative description of how the course will assess section specific learning objectives
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The applicant’s CV
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A statement of support from the faculty member’s chair, including confirmation that, if selected, the faculty member's Honors fellow course for the 2025-26 academic year will be considered part of their regular teaching load and no adjunct replacement cost will be provided by the department.
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A statement of support from the faculty member's Dean's office.
Selection Process
Applicants can review the selection process below to know more about how they may be selected
All Honors Foundations Course proposals must first be vetted by the chair in the home department in the statement of support. Except in extraordinary circumstances pre-approved by affected chairs, no more than one faculty fellow will come from any given department within a single cohort.
Efforts will be made to distribute Honors Foundation Course offerings across all six eligible GEF bins (2-7), and across multiple colleges across the university.
Faculty Fellows will be expected to participate in a two-and-a-half-day workshop on course design tailored specifically for them. This workshop will take place in May 2025. The goal of this workshop will be to provide Faculty Fellows with:
- Professional development in the principles and evidence-based practices of backward course design
- Dedicated time and space to make substantial progress on putting your course together
- An opportunity for peer feedback on course components.
Please note that there will be no expectations that Faculty Fellows have a completed course syllabus for this workshop or anything beyond the course proposal submitted with their Honors Faculty Fellow application.
COURSE SELECTION CRITERIA:
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Fulfillment of GEF goals
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Commitment to and proposed assessment of LEAP outcomes
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Innovative teaching tactics/learning activities
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Interdisciplinary learning opportunities
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Priority will be given to courses that fall within one of the above areas and that explore inclusion and representation across categories of identity and experience in their subject matter.
Selection Timeline
A tentative guideline for the fellow selection process.
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September 11, 2024
Call for Applications
Call for applications for 2024-25 Honors Faculty Fellows
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November 8, 2024
Deadline for Applications and Course Proposals
Deadline for Honors Faculty Fellow applications and course proposals. The Associate Dean will perform an initial review of all applications. If an applicant proposes a course that extends into another discipline, the Associate Dean will seek sign-off from the chair of the department in question, before reinserting it into the batch of applications.
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January 6, 2025
Honors Faculty Fellows Confirm Participation
Selected Honors Faculty Fellows confirm participation and Honors curriculum committee submits selected courses to Faculty Senate GEF committee for information, ideally by February 2024 Faculty Senate Meeting.
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March 2025 (estimated)
Courses Made Visible to Students
Fall 2025 courses are made visible to students.
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Mid-May 2025
Course Design Workshop
Faculty fellows course design workshop
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July 2025
Fellows Receive Course Development Stipend
Fellows receive summer course development stipend
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August 2025
First Semester of Courses
Fellows teach first semester of courses.
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Fall 2025
Fellow Lectures Held
Honors Faculty Fellows lectures held.
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November 2025 - January 2026
Next Cohort Selection Process Begins
Fellows participate in selection process for next cohort.
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December 2025
Retrospective Review of Year
Honors Faculty Fellows meet for retrospective discussion of the year to offer feedback about the program.
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January 2026
Second Semester Begins
Second semester begins.